Basically, most adverbs tell you how, where, or when something is done. In other words, they describe the manner, place, or time of an action.

Here are some examples:

Type

Adverb

Example

Manner

slowly

Tom drives slowly.

Place

here

The party is going to take place here.

Time

yesterday

I called him yesterday.

How to recognize an adverb. Many adverbs end with the suffix -LY. Most of these are created by adding -LY to the end of an adjective, like this:

Adjective

Adverb

slow

slowly

delightful

delightfully

hopeless

hopelessly

aggressive

aggressively

However, this is NOT a reliable way to find out whether a word is an adverb or not, for two reasons: many adverbs do NOT end in -LY (some are the same as the adjective form), and many words which are NOT adverbs DO end in -LY (such as kindly, friendly, elderly and lonely, which are adjectives). Here are some examples of adverbs which are the same as adjectives:

Adjective

Adverb

fast

fast

late

late

early

early

The best way to tell if a word is an adverb is to try making a question, for which the answer is the word. If the question uses how, where or when, then the word is probably an adverb. Here is an example:

An adverb may be a single word, such as quickly, here or yesterday. However, adverbs can also be phrases, some made with prepositions, others made with infinitives. This page will explain the basic types of adverb phrases (sometimes called “adverbial phrases”) and how to recognize them. Basic types of adverbs In the section on adverbs above, you learned about three basic types of adverb: manner, place and time adverbs. There are at least two more that are important. Frequency adverbs answer the question “How often?” about an action. Purpose adverbs answer the question “Why?”. Here are some examples:

Type

Adverb

Example

Frequency

usually

Mary usually gets up early.

Purpose

for fun

I write computer programs for fun.

While the first example, usually, is a single word, the second example (for fun) is a phrase consisting of a preposition and a noun — in other words, it is a prepositional phrase which functions as an adverb phrase.

Adverb phrases made with prepositions. All kinds of adverb phrases can be made with prepositions. Here are some examples:

Type

Adverb phrase

Example

Manner

with a hammer

The carpenter hit the nail with a hammer.

Place

next door

The woman who lives next door is a doctor.

Time

before the holidays

We must finish our project before the holidays.

Frequency

every month

Sally buys two CDs every month.

Purpose

for his mother

John bought the flowers for his mother.

Adverb phrases made with infinitives. Another kind of adjective phrase can be made with the infinitive form of a verb. Most of these phrases express purpose, as in these examples:

Adverbs can also be clauses, containing a subject and a full verb. This page will explain the basic types of adverb clauses (sometimes called “adverbial clauses”) and how to recognize them.

Adverbs, adverb phrases, and adverb clauses Look at these sentences:

I saw the movie yesterday.

I saw the movie on Friday.

I saw the movie before I left for Paris.

In the first sentence, “yesterday” is a one-word adverb, “on Friday” is an adverb phrase, and “before I left for Paris” is a adverb clause. All of them answer the question “When?”, but the adverb clause has a subject (“I”) and a full verb (“left”). It is introduced by “before”, so it is a dependent clause. This means that it cannot stand alone: “Before I left for Paris” would not be a full sentence. It needs a main clause (“I saw the movie”) An adverb clause, then, is a dependent clause that does the same job as an adverb or an adverb phrase.

Types of adverb clause There are many types of adverb clauses. Here are some examples of the most common types:

Type

Question answered

Example

Place

Where?

Wherever there are computers, there is Microsoft software.

Time

When?

After the fruit is harvested, it is sold at the market.

Cause

Why? (What caused this?)

I didn’t call her because I’m shy.

Purpose

Why? (What was the reason for doing this?)

She took a computer course so that she could get a better job.

Concession

Why is this unexpected?

Although Gerry has a Master’s degree, he works as a store clerk.

Condition

Under what conditions?

If you save your money, you will be able to go to college.

As you can see from the examples above, most adverb clauses can be recognized because they are introduced by a particular word or phrase (such as “when”, “so that”, etc.). These words and phrases are called subordinating conjunctions, and there are many of them.